The Importance of first languages in early childhood education

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages, dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of language as a tool for communication, education, social integration and development. As the International Year looks set to turn into an International Decade, Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF) First Languages Coordinator Naomi Fillmore affirms the crucial role of educators in integrating and promoting children’s first languages within early childhood settings. Distilling international and domestic research, Naomi explains how doing so underpins each of the learning outcome areas in the Early Years Learning Framework.

Australia is a linguistically and culturally diverse nation. The most recent census of 2016 recorded over 300 different languages spoken in Australian homes. More than one- fifth of Australians speak a language other than standard Australian English at home, and in some areas this percentage is much higher. For example, in remote areas, around two-thirds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children speak some words of an Indigenous language, and in one suburb of Western Sydney, more than 70 per cent of people report speaking a language other than English at home.

The diversity of Australian communities is naturally reflected in our early childhood centres and schools. Over two-thirds of teachers around the country teach in schools where a significant portion of students speak a language other than English as their first language. In many remote communities, almost 100 percent of children are encountering English for the first time when they arrive at the school gates. Though formal education (including early childhood education) in Australia is delivered primarily through English, many decades of Indigenous and migrant community advocacy have led to new policy and curriculum spaces opening up for languages and dialects other than English to be taught, developed, and valued in the Australian education system.

Whilst at the school level, a new framework from Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) provides pathways for schools to teach Indigenous languages as a first language, revival language or second language, we know that brain development starts much earlier than school. Quality teaching and learning experiences in early childhood are the foundation for all future learning success.

Early experiences in a child’s first language supports the development of neurocognitive linguistic pathways, in turn supporting the ability to make connections between known and unknown, reducing stress and increasing learning capacity.

Recognising this, the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) acknowledges that all children “have the right to be continuing users of their home language" (p. 41). First language development features throughout the EYLF and is a vital precursor to achieving each of the five learning outcome areas.

OUTCOME 1: CHILDREN HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF IDENTITY

Healthy development in early life is important for all children. Valuing the emerging language skills that children arrive with supports a child’s healthy development and a strong sense of identity through early childhood, school, and later in life. Language and identity are intrinsically linked. For example, in one of the most comprehensive studies conducted of Australian Indigenous languages and language speakers, over 90 per cent of respondents felt that the use of traditional languages is a strong part of their identity as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person. A strong sense of identity leads to a strengthened sense of belonging (in line with the EYLF's vision for children’s learning) - belonging to a tradition, culture, ancestor, spirit, family, community, land, and country.

OUTCOME 2: CHILDREN ARE CONNECTED WITH AND CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR WORLD

Learning more than one language widens a child’s understanding of and connection to the world around them. Languages offer children a window into different cultures and ways of thinking, leading to a host of socio-emotional benefits for bilingual children and adults. For example, bilingual children and adults perform better in tests of empathy and reasoning. Respect for linguistic diversity contributes to cohesive and peaceful societies.

A major goal of the International Year of Indigenous Languages was to highlight the many ways in which languages, particularly Indigenous languages, benefit not just their speakers but all of us through their contribution to the world’s rich cultural diversity. In Australia, our languages are being lost at among the highest rates in the world. When languages die, we lose more than just words. We lose a carrier of culture; and the connection we share with ourselves, our traditions, and cultural history. Teaching first languages supports the intergenerational transmission of these languages, creating a new generation of speakers, revitalising vulnerable languages into the future, and contributing to a better world for us all.

OUTCOME 3: CHILDREN HAVE A STRONG SESNE OF WELLBEING

Valuing first languages in our early childhood and school systems supports children’s healthy development and long-term wellbeing. The positive impacts of keeping language and culture strong reverberate throughout a child's life – for example, studies have shown that Indigenous children experience better health and well-being outcomes later in life when the adults close to them foster a strong sense of cultural identity in their early years.

The strong correlation between first language development in the early years and long term wellbeing in part stems from the positive influence of bilingualism on executive function and self-regulation, with executive function and self-regulation being essential skills for managing life, work, learning, and relationships.

The EYLF defines ‘well-being’ as incorporating physical and psychological aspects - and early language development is an important determinant for both. Physically, a strong sense of identity develops resilience and the ability to cope with challenges faced in later life. For example, studies have found links between Indigenous young people’s knowledge of traditional languages and their likelihood of engaging in antisocial behaviours or being victims of violence. Psychologically, Aboriginal communities implementing bilingual education programs have reported a greater sense of self-worth and acceptance, whereas children living in areas where language is being lost display high levels of accumulated stress.

OUTCOME 4: CHILDREN ARE CONFIDENT AND INVOLVED LEARNERS

Children are confident and involved learners when they are able to fully engage with the teaching and learning process. Without strong foundational education in their first language, children are limited in their ability to develop critical learning and cognitive skills and to eventually reach their full potential.

Building on experiences and vocabulary that a child is already familiar with supports them to more easily make connections with the new ideas and skills that are taught – to go from the ‘known’ to ‘unknown’. Where there is a disconnect between the languages of home and education, children’s proficiency in detecting the patterns of spoken language cannot be cross-fertilised, and the devastating outcome is that these children may not develop a full robust linguistic system in their first language nor Standard Australian English.

Evidence shows that children are involved, engaged and confident learners when their first language is valued and supported. Children who can’t understand, or have difficulty understanding, the language of instruction may disengage or ‘switch off’ from learning. For example, in the late 2000s when the Northern Territory terminated their bilingual program in remote Indigenous schools, attendance rates dropped dramatically to an average of just 30 percent.

The EYLF recognises that "children are more likely to be confident and involved learners when their family and community experiences and understandings are recognised and included". Bringing home languages into learning spaces also invites families and communities into a child’s learning journey. Parents and caregivers feel more comfortable to engage with the child’s learning when learning is culturally and linguistically inclusive.

OUTCOME 5: CHILDREN ARE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATORS

Children begin their communicative development not just from early childhood or even infancy, but from the womb. Newborns are able to distinguish the sounds of the language they hear in-utero within their first hours of life, and acoustic analysis shows that even the melody, pitch and pattern of babies’ cries mimic the features of their maternal language.

This means that all children arrive at an early childhood space with an abundance of language knowledge that is specific to the language they have been exposed to since conception. Given that oral language skills, developed during early childhood, are the foundational skills on which later literacy skills are built, a disconnect between homes and school language often lead to poor literacy acquisition and educational outcomes.

Conversely, when centres and schools respect children’s right to "be continuing users of their home language" (EYLF p. 41), impressive benefits to learning outcomes have been noted. Studies from around the globe, including in the USA, Peru, Cameroon, the Philippines, and elsewhere, have all shown that significant learning gains can be made across multiple subject areas when children’s first languages are used in the early years of schooling.

This includes learning a second language such as English. For example, Australian research has found a positive relationship between learning an Aboriginal language and decoding skills in Standard Australian English. Exposure to a rich variety of words, sentences, and conversations will help them to develop underlying concepts of language, which they can then draw from when they learn English.

Achieving each of the five EYLF learning outcomes requires educators to respect and support children’s full development in their first language – whether that be Standard Australian English, a non-standard dialect, an Indigenous language, or any of the other hundreds of languages spoken in Australia. Both research and practice confirm that doing so not only underpins children’s sense of identity, empathy, connection, well-being, and engagement, but leads to each of the five learning outcomes in the EYLF and is vital for successful learning experiences in early childhood and beyond.

Kathi Herrick is an Early Language and Literacy Trainer for the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF). She has supported ECE services in various professional development and mentoring roles and has taught the Certificate and Diploma of Early Childhood Education in centres across Australia.

Naomi Fillmore is the First Languages Coordinator for the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF). She has worked on language and education initiatives in a variety of settings, including in Australia, Nepal, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

This article was originally published in issue 131 of Community Early Learning Australia's journal Rattler.